Indian-origin man compensated for being sexually harassed

Wellington, Sep 8: A New Zealand court has awarded more than $35,000 to an Indian-origin man after he was fired for complaining about sexual harassment by his senior, a media report said.

The Employment Relations Authority directed Wellington-based Wellywood Backpackers' manager Ravichandiren NarayaNasamy to pay his former employee Varinder Singh $7,500 compensation for his personal grievance, $10,948 in lost wages and $14,067 in wage arrears, the New Zealand Herald reported on Monday.

According to Singh, NarayaNasamy sent him explicit text messages, including one that said "I need to have sex with you soon."

He told the court that when he complained about the sexual harassment on July 22, 2014, he was warned he would be fired for complaining.

Singh was fired on August 1, 2014. He told the court that NarayaNasamy threw his belongings out of his room in the hostel and then physically abused him.

NarayaNasamy, however, said that Singh lost his employment due to laziness and was trying to blackmail him for money.

He also claimed that the explicit text message was sent to Singh by mistake, but failed to prove his innocence when his former employee submitted before the court more text messages that were "personal, intrusive and of a sexual nature".